Premier Brian Pallister to attend Winnipeg Pride Parade

Manitoba's new Progressive Conservative premier, Brian Pallister, says he plans to attend the annual Pride Parade in Winnipeg next month.

Pallister says he will participate in the celebration of gay and lesbian rights, barring a natural disaster or other emergency that would require his attention.

He would be only the second Manitoba premier to do so.

When first asked last month, Pallister said he would have to check his schedule, but he now says he is committed to attending.

Pallister was accused by former NDP premier Greg Selinger of being homophobic for opposing a 2013 law that requires schools to allow students to set up gay-straight alliances.

He also came under fire for comments he made a decade ago in Parliament when he called same-sex marriage a social experiment.